1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to emergency communication devices and more specifically to an apparatus for emergency communications using dual satellite communications systems and a related method for registering, programming, and updating these emergency locator beacons over the air.
2. Description of Related Art
The Cospas-Sarsat international satellite system has been operational for many years and is well known. Its sole purpose is to provide emergency distress alerting capability from an aircraft, vessel or individual in distress to relevant emergency services, via a one way satellite communications network. This system employs three types of emergency locator beacons known as Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs), Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) and Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) all operating in the 406.0 to 406.1 MHz frequency band. The system is unique in that it is truly global and is run by various governments for the benefit of all and sends emergency distress alerts directly to the relevant government authority responsible for rescue efforts (e.g. US Coastguard) around the world. The Cospas-Sarsat system provides a one way communications link between a beacon and one or more Cospas-Sarsat satellites. The Cospas-Sarsat satellites are in communication with one or more dispatchers who are responsible for routing a distress signal from a beacon to the appropriate first responders who carry out the rescue efforts. Specifically, the Cospas-Sarsat satellites receive a distress signal and route it to one or more receiving and processing stations called LUTs, or local user terminals. The LUTs generate distress alert data which is then communicated to a Mission Control Center (MCC) whereby the MCC then routes instructions and information to localized Rescue Coordination Centers (RCC). The RCCs are then responsible for facilitating the coordination of the rescue efforts. While the Cospas-Sarsat system is effective, it is limited in that it only provides for one way communication which can cause uneasiness for the person(s) in distress as well as for the responders.
More recently, commercial satellite communication systems utilizing both one way (remote user to satellite ground station only (e.g. Globalstar SPOT) or satellite ground station to remote user only (e.g. Sirius XM radio)) and two way communications have become more common and have started to be used for both emergency distress alerting and general day to day communications. These satellite communication systems are particularly useful in locations where cellular telephone antennas cannot be placed and/or where cellular telephone reception is low or non-existent. Satellite communications systems have been tailored for emergency communications through the adoption and use of Satellite Emergency Notification Devices (SENDs). Globalstar SPOT is one example of a one way version of such a device and the DeLorme InReach device is one example of a two way version of such a device. Typically, a satellite communication system operates by creating a one-way or two-way communications link between a satellite telephone or SEND and a commercial communications satellite. The commercial communications satellite may comprise the Iridium satellite system already established in the art. The communications satellite is further in communication with a satellite gateway whereby the gateway is in communication with one or more computer servers. The computer servers typically have connections to the internet, cellular telephone systems, or standard land-line telephone systems thereby allowing the satellite phone or SEND user to communicate with a plurality of other devices by way of a plurality of communications systems. In some instances, the computer servers may be in communication with a particularized commercial emergency response call center that carries out specific emergency rescue operations should the satellite phone or SEND use request them or press an “emergency” key on his device.
There are several advantages of SEND devices compared to 406 MHz beacons in that they permit communications other than pure emergency distress alerting and thus can be used on a regular basis to remain in communications when outside of an area of cellular phone coverage. In addition, SENDs can be used to track and report on the location of the remote person as well through the use of internal GPS transmitter/receivers typically found in SENDs. In addition, because SENDs and satellite telephones permit two-way communications, in an emergency situation some of the satellite devices can provide to the user additional information on the emergency and rescue efforts and some can even permit communication with the person in distress by voice, data, or text message.
However, SEND devices also suffer from some disadvantages compared to 406 MHz beacons in that they currently have to forward distress alerts to a commercial emergency call center (e.g. a 911 call center) and this call center then has to communicate with the relevant emergency services. It is then difficult for the relevant emergency services to communicate backwards and forwards with the person in distress because the system is not cohesively and centrally established for emergency and rescue efforts.
Further still, while both the 406 MHz beacons and SEND systems have redundancy built into it to allow for outages in parts of the system, each is still dependent upon a single communications system that may break down or become unreliable in what can often be a life threatening situation. Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention addresses the advantages and disadvantages of each system and combines them to provide a robust, redundant, and significant more effective emergency locator beacon.
In addition to addressing the general problems associated with the Cospas-Sarsat and commercial satellite communication systems, the present invention also addresses the problems currently associated with registering, programming, and updating emergency locator beacons. Currently, Cospas-Sarsat beacons transmit a digital message containing, amongst other things, the unique identity of the beacon. The format of this digital message is defined in international standards and is comprised of a number of different data fields, each of which contains different data depending on the particular message format of which there are a number to address differing administrations and equipment requirements. These unique identity data fields include, amongst others, a Country Code field, a Beacon Serial Number field, a Beacon MMSI field (used to indicate the number of the vessel upon which an EPIRB is fitted), a Beacon Aircraft Tail Number field (used to indicate the aircraft on which an ELT is installed) and the like. The information in these data fields is used by the emergency services to assist them in a rescue mission, to help to eliminate false alerts where beacons are activated by mistake and to direct the emergency services to the country where the beacon is registered and thus where further information on the beacon or the craft on which it is fitted might be obtained.
Thus, it is critical that the data in the beacon is up to date and relevant to the country of registration of the beacon. However, if a beacon owner moves from one country to another, or moves their beacon from one aircraft or vessel to another, it is necessary to reprogram the beacon to update the information in these data fields. Unfortunately, as noted above, the Cospas-Sarsat System is a one way system only (i.e. there is no return link to the beacon) and therefore, currently, reprogramming activity needs to be carried out by physical reprogramming of the beacon. That is, the beacon has to be taken to a place where it can be connected up to suitable reprogramming equipment such as a computer terminal or other means. This process is both time consuming and expensive to carry out and thus quite often as a result this critical information in the beacons is not updated, which can hamper a rescue mission in an emergency or waste precious rescue services time and money following up on false alerts.
Therefore a system whereby it would be possible to not only update this information over the air but also to update it automatically in some circumstances would be of great benefit to all concerned. Accordingly, the present invention addresses these problems by defining a way to use a second commercial satellite system as the carrier for the programming data back to the beacon.
Further still, as described above, Emergency Beacons transmit a digital message containing amongst other things the identity of the beacon. This message contains a number of data fields which include amongst others a Country Code field and a Beacon Serial Number field. The identity data fields however do not contain all of the details required by the emergency services, due in part to restrictions in the amount of data that can be transmitted. Thus details such as the name of the owner of the emergency beacon, or their contact details (e.g. their address and telephone number), or the details of a third party (e.g. a family member) who may be contacted in the event of an emergency are not included in the transmitted data.
Many countries require the owners of emergency beacons to register them with an appropriate body (e.g. the coastguard) such that the emergency services can obtain access to this additional data in the event that an emergency beacon is turned on and they need to contact someone about it. Each emergency beacon in the world is programmed with an individual unique identity which enables it to be singled out from all other emergency beacons. This unique identity is usually printed on both the casing of the emergency beacon and provided in paperwork supplied with the emergency beacon. Currently, the registration process generally is comprised of the new owner of the emergency beacon sending this unique beacon identity together with requested additional details, such as those mentioned above, to the appropriate national registration body. This process can generally be done by filling in this information on a form either on paper or electronically and then either mailing the form via the postal service or submitting it electronically over the internet. However, there is no way to automate this process and many owners of emergency beacons never bother to register them, which causes problems for the emergency services in the event that one of these un-registered beacons is turned on. Further, if there are changes in ownership or the owner wishes to update certain information, the process can become difficult and time consuming because there is not centralized method for updating same. Accordingly, the present invention addresses this problem and provides a method of automatic registration to relieve the emergency beacon owner from having to do this task; it also provides a much higher registration rate for emergency beacons and reduces the risk of errors creeping into the registration data.